Hailey Baldwin Bieber is being sued for trademark infringement by a 9-year-old fashion company that shares the name of her skincare line, Rhode – which is Bieber’s middle name.
RHODE clothing brand cofounders Purna Khatau and Phoebe Vickers filed the suit against the model, 25, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday, according to documents.
In the filing, Khatau says she and Vickers launched the company in May 2013 and have since “dedicated ourselves to growing and nurturing the RHODE brand through much personal sacrifice and hardship.”
It is now considered a reputable brand sold in luxury stores, including Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus and worn by celebrities like Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Mindy Kaling. RHODE is expected to make $14.5 million this year, the lawsuit states.
Khatau and Vickers own the RHODE trademark for several common clothing items and accessories. They’ve also filed applications to expand to other areas like household items and are considering expanding to makeup and skincare, per Khatau’s declaration.
Hailey Baldwin Bieber launched her Rhode skincare line earlier this month, and Khatau says she and Vickers immediately began to see “confusion in the marketplace,” which has already hurt their brand.
The lawsuit alleges that Instagram first promised the @rhode handle to the designers since it was “dormant per Instagram policy, but after initially promising it to us, Instagram decided to allow Ms. Bieber to use it even though it had no posts until June 8, 2022.”
The filing also notes a joint Instagram post with Bieber’s personal account (followed by more than 45 million users), which garnered more than 600,000 likes at the time of the filing.
Justin Bieber, 28, has also promoted his wife’s brand on his Instagram, where he has 243 million followers.
His post garnered more than 1 million likes, court documents note. The lawsuit adds that people have also tagged Hailey’s @rhode Instagram instead of the plaintiffs’ official @shoprhode account when sharing photos of celebrities wearing their clothing line.